Study On Kant's Theory Of Thing In Itself

Kant's theory of thing in itself has always been the target of critics of Kant's philosophy.Both Jacobi,a contemporary scholar of Kant,and analytic philosophers,which arose out of opposition to German Idealism,pointed the severe criticism of Kant's theory of thing in itself.Jacobi think that Kant's theory of thing in itself means that Kant goes beyond the realm of experience paradoxically and makes illegitimate use of the category of understanding,particularly of the category " causality and dependence" and of the category "inherence and subsistence." In his opinion,Kant must describe the thing in itself that is affecting the human in some non-empirical way,but when Kant does so,he violates the laws established by himself and makes a transcendental use of the category " causality and dependence" and of the category "inherence and subsistence".We either can't get into Kant's system or we can't stay in his system.Analytic philosophers,such as A.J.Ayer,believed that philosophy was a movement to clarify concepts and propositional meanings,and that Kant's theory of thing in itself was a purely metaphysical question,which represented a questionable metaphysical tendency and should be rejected along with the German Idealism.To refute the above point,Henry E.Allison reinterpreted Kant's "transcendental idealism" and carried out effective defense work.This paper attempts to answer two questions about Kant's theory of thing in itself on the basis of Henry E.Allison's interpretation.That is to say,Jacobis' criticism of Kant's theory of thing in itself is based on a double misunderstanding of Kant,who understood thing in itself as a metaphysical realism and the "Affection" of thing in itself as a causal explanation.And the rejection of Kant's theory of thing in itself by analytic philosophers is more an escape from metaphysics than a solution to it.In fact,Kant's theory of thing in itself plays an important role in Kant's transcendental idealism,which is closely related to the "Copernican Revolution" of epistemology paradigm transformation.A new understanding of Kant's theory of thing in itself can't only respond to the criticism of Jacobi and others,but also help lay the foundation for contemporary epistemology argument.